Flabbergasted: Savile Impersonated by Tweenies

In a further act of self-destruction the BBC astonished parents by broadcasting a children's TV character impersonating disgraced paedophile Jimmy Savile.

This morning's episode of The Tweenies, broadcast on CBeebies at 8.40 am, featured a two minute segment loosely based on Top of the Pops. We now know that following the filming of programmes like Top of the Pops Savile lured impressionable audience members back to his dressing room to abuse.

Orange-faced puppet Max was dressed in a wig similar to Savile's trademark blond locks, a tracksuit and a chunky gold medallion. Any sense of coincidence was obliterated when the puppet welcomed the audience to "The Tweenie Chart Countdown" in a Yorkshire accent and began yodelling. In a further sickening twist the Savile impersonating puppet introduced sidekick Milo's song, which was inappropriately named "One Finger, One Thumb".

This latest clanger comes just a few days after an official report revealed that at least 23 sexual offences were committed by Savile on BBC premises. That figure is probably a conservative estimate, given that police have branded the former Radio 1 DJ one of the most prolific sexual offenders of the twentieth century.

The Tweetosphere was quickly abuzz with comments criticising the BBC's choice of programme. Twitter user @mrkennysenior tweeted: "Are BBC trying to self destruct? Max from Tweenies dressed as Jimmy Savile just now nearly chokes on my cornflakes". @FiserableMucker tweeted: "They're doing a TOTP style show and he's all Savile'd up. Someone has dropped the ball at CBeebies".

The BBC said: "This morning CBeebies broadcast a repeat of an episode of the Tweenies, originally made in 2001, featuring a character dressed as a DJ impersonating Jimmy Savile. This programme will not be repeated and we are very sorry for any offence caused."

Anonymous Plans BBC Protest

Global "hacktivist" group Anonymous recently published a spoof news report on YouTube where they announced their intentions to target the BBC early this summer.

The one minute segment, which shows a newsreader wearing the group's trademark Guy Fawkes mask, is transcribed below:

"Dear citizens of the UK,

"We are Anonymous. We are not best pleased at the way the BBC, British Brainwashing Corporation, has been dealing with the issue of paedophilia within its realms.

"You (the BBC) have failed the public via fraudulent means. You force citizens of the UK to pay for a TV licence. You force them to pay over £145 a year to view your idea of what is worthy. You have failed the public; you have failed the free press; you have failed to not censor news stories; you have failed the people by the tax avoidance of your staff, which Anonymous takes very seriously, and you choose to hide the emails as well.

"And so we say here unto you, BBC: We are Anonymous. We are legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. The 1st of June 2013 you can expect us."

The group has previously claimed responsibility for hacking attacks that brought down the UK Government's Home Office, Ministry of Justice and Number 10 websites. Anonymous also managed to hack a secret telephone call between US and British cyber-investigators, which was all about how to tackle members of their group.

Given the content of this latest Anonymous statement, it seems likely the group will target the BBC's web and email servers. It would appear, in common with us here at the TV Licensing Blog, that Anonymous is incensed at the BBC's lack of transparency. There has been speculation that they might attempt to retrieve some of the emails the BBC has been so desperate to hide over recent months, in particular with regard to possible tax avoidance and Jimmy Savile.

We do not condone any illegal actions on the part of Anonymous on 1st June 2013. However, should they wish to protest within the law, we give them our total support and wish them the very best of luck.

TV Licensing PR: Truly Remarkable

A new year heralds a new crop of mass distributed TV Licensing press releases.

Few people realise that whenever they read an article about TV Licensing it was invariably planted by their PR people. TV Licensing "spokespeople" are actually employed by one of their PR contractors.

This time the topic is black and white television. Did you realise that there are still just over 13,000 black and white TV licences in force across the UK? No? Nor did we, but that figure is, erm, in the words of TV Licensing, "remarkable". In fact it's so remarkable that TV Licensing's massed army of PR harlots have been out in force saying just how remarkable it is.

TV Licensing's Stephen Farmer said: "It's remarkable that with the digital switchover complete, 41% of UK households owning HDTVs and Britons leading the world in accessing TV content over the internet, more than 13,000 households still watch their favourite programmes on a black-and-white telly."

Such a remarkable statistic didn't escape the notice of East Midlands TV Licensing PR man Mark Whitehouse either: "It's remarkable that with the digital switchover complete, 41 per cent of UK households owning HDTVs and Britons leading the world in accessing TV content over the internet more than 13,000 households still watch their favourite programmes on a black and white telly."

Meanwhile, over in the North of England, such remarkableness was also apparent to TV Licensing's Lucy Baird: "It's remarkable that with the digital switchover complete, 41 per cent of UK households owning HDTVs and Britons leading the world in accessing TV content over the internet, more than 13,000 households still watch their favourite programmes on a black and white telly."

Fergus Reid, who works for TV Licensing PR contractor Smarts, decided he also wanted a piece of the remarkable action: "It's remarkable that, with the digital switchover complete, 41% of UK households owning HDTVs and Britons leading the world in accessing TV content over the internet, more than 13,000 households still watch their favourite programmes on a black and white telly."

TV Licensing PR man Warren Carr has also been dabbling in remarkable claims in the Swindon Advertiser: "It's remarkable that, with the digital switchover complete, 41 per cent of UK households owning HDTVs and Britons leading the world in accessing TV content over the internet more than 13,000 households watch a black and white telly."

Deborah King has also been spreading the gospel according to TV Licensing over in Northern Ireland: "It's remarkable that, with the digital switchover complete, 41 per cent of UK households owning HDTVs and Britons leading the world in accessing TV content over the internet more than 13,000 households watch a black and white telly."

Completing the national picture is TV Licensing PR flunky Victoria Sykes, who, as you've probably guessed by now, was in awe at the number of black and white licences still in force: "It's remarkable that with the digital switchover complete, 41 per cent of UK households owning HDTVs and Britons leading the world in accessing TV content over the internet more than 13,000 households still watch their favourite programmes on a black and white telly."

Next time you're reading any of this bullshit in the newspapers just remember that it's sent out in bulk by TV Licensing for their own means. It is a sad fact that most bone idle newspaper editors publish this stuff without any questions at all.

Savile Crimes: Giving Victims a Voice

The Metropolitan Police and NSPCC have just released a joint report, which gives an overview of predatory paedophile Jimmy Savile's sordid sexual exploits.

The forty page report, called Giving Victims a Voice, outlines sexual offences committed by the disgraced former Jim'll Fix It host between 1955 and 2009.

Alarmingly the report reveals that no less than six different police investigations took place into Savile's crimes, but none of them were able to bring him to justice. The Metropolitan Police received its first complaint against Savile in the early 1980s, when it was alleged that he had abused a young girl in his camper van parked at BBC Television Centre. By that time Savile had already committed literally hundreds of sexual offences. Had the Met grasped the nettle more firmly at the time the 20 or 30 subsequent offences may never have been committed.

Savile's last offence took place in 2009, when he put his hand up a woman's skirt on the train between Leeds and London Kings Cross.

Following the Daily Mail's lead, here is some more information about Savile's crimes in numbers:

• 8: The age of Savile's youngest victim, who happened to be male.
• 14: The number of offences Savile committed in schools.
• 22: The number of offences Savile committed at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.
• 23: The number of offences Savile committed on BBC premises, predominantly Television Centre.
• 34: The number of rapes committed by Savile.
• 42: The number of Savile's offences that took place in the Metropolitan Police area.
• 47: The age of Savile's oldest victim, who happened to be female.
• 73%: Of Savile's victims were under the age of 18.
• 82%: Of Savile's victims were female.
• 128: The number of indecent assaults committed by Savile.

The report has also revealed that Savile abused a dying child in a Leeds hospice.

The Metropolitan Police's Commander Peter Spindler said that Savile used his celebrity status to "hide in plain sight" while abusing children over six decades.

Dozens of Savile victims are now taking legal proceedings against the institutions he was associated with, including the BBC and NHS.